Discussion Forum

I'm trying to figure out what size flasks to buy and having a hard time finding any kind of definitive answer for what size steps to build up the starter in. I will be using the whole slant not just…Continue

Is a pressure cooker entirely necessary for sterilizing slant vials etc? or does a pot with a false bottom boiling away get the job done. We are talking about single celled organisms that thrive at…Continue

all of the methods are easy and have advantages and disadvantages but all result in having as many different strains as you care to cultivate at your disposal and with liquid yeasts at +-$20 a pop the equipment needed soon pays for itself.

Good idea for a group this one. I'm just about to get a freezer space dedicated to brewing - so I'll have room to keep a small yeast bank away from the frozen bread, lamb roasts and kids iceblocks!

Strains I've currently got access to (either underway brewing or stored in the fridge under sterile water) are:

WY 3522, WY 1318, WY 1084, WY 2782, WL 833, WL 029,

I don't do anything very complicated at the moment - just wash with sterilised water and store in the fridge though I'm keen to know more about slants/ freezing et al. particularly if a few of us are looking to send these around the country.

I'm don't use distilled water - just sterilised tap water. Generally I save about 125ml washed 1st gen slurry from my first beer with a yeast in a 250ml jar stored under water in the fridge. When I make a starter I take half of this and kick it off with 50-100ml of 1030-40 wort. The time it takes to start up depends on how long its been stored. I then split the cake of the second gen post brew into 2 and use one half straight away while storing a second "library yeast" jar for subsequent brews. The remaining half of the original 1st gen slurry I keep as a more pure source and get into this if I pick up an infection of I notice changes in character I don't like. I haven't been doing this for long enough (< 2 years) to warrant anything more complicated. The longest time I've stored yeast without using so far has been 14months and its taken about 2 1/2 weeks from first rousing to a have a 2L ready to go ale yeast pitch. I use a stir plate too that visibly increased my yeast volume when I started using it.

My system isn't particularly complicated - but seems to work for now. I s'pose I'm also not too fussed about investing heaps of time and effort in it because if I get a dud lot then I'll chuck it - there's plenty of other tasty yeasts out there to try.

hi tilt,i store mine on slants,i have been doing a bit of reading on storing in distilled water as it sounds like a good method. so far the trades i've done have been slants sent and received,doesn't seem to bother the yeasties and it's easy to re-slant when they arrive,my slants are made with gelatin. i'm personally not to bothered how i receive the yeast,as i'd just slant it when it arrived so i'm open to whatever suits the group.

i got my tubes from labwarehouse.co.nz,they come in various sizes and are cheaper in bulk so group buys may be an option. another supplier is alphatech.co.nz-its pretty difficult to navigate they're site but if you ask one of the sales reps they'll know what you want,i think quite a few brewers have bought from them,they seem a bit cheaper than labwarehouse.
gelatin was from the supermarket,i've found cheap agar here http://wellingtonspices.co.nz/spices/other-products/agra-agar-powde... which i'll probably buy soon.autoclave(pressure cooker) was from sallies and everything else is just kitchen stuff.malt extract was from liberty.